The Foreign Correspondents Association of Southern Africa appeals to the Nigerian government to issue visas and press accreditation to journalists wanting to cover the elections on Feb. 14.
Many of our members in South Africa, representing news media from around the world, have been refused visas and are not able to travel to Nigeria to cover the important elections in Africa's most populous country. Some were told specifically that they were not getting visas because they are journalists. Other journalists with existing visas have not been able to get press accreditation. Free access to the press, both domestic and foreign, is widely acknowledged to be a requirement for free and fair elections. Election monitors will note that many foreign journalists based in Africa and elsewhere have not been granted access to Nigeria. Our members are discussing this problem with our embassies and monitoring bodies.

Even at this late date, it would be beneficial to issue visas and press accreditation to journalists wanting to cover the elections.

The Foreign Correspondents Association of Southern Africa (FCA) would like to extend condolences to the South African Broadcasting Corporation on the passing away of Mr. Vuyo Mbuli. The media fraternity is certainly poorer today without Mr. Mbuli. We will remember him for his charm and articulate narration of South African current affairs. The FCA would also like to extend condolences to his family and friends.

The Foreign Correspondents' Association of Southern Africa expresses its
condolences for the tragic death of South African photographer Anton
Hammerl.

We strongly condem his killing in the Libyan desert by
pro-Gaddafi security forces on 5 April 2011. As fellow journalists
working in foreign territories we would like to state that the
misleading information about Hammerl's whereabouts given by the
Government of Libya is totally unacceptable.

The FCA is very
alarmed by this brutal violation of human rights and reiterates its call
to uphold the principles of freedom of the media.

The Foreign Correspondents' Association of Southern Africa strongly
condemns the treatment of journalists by the security forces in
Swaziland.

Yesterday and today a number of our members, including an FCA board
member, were detained, harassed and expelled for merely doing their
jobs.

We believe that as a member of SADC, the government of Swaziland has a
responsibility to uphold the principles of freedom of the media. We call
upon the government of Swaziland to release all journalists detained
immediately.

The Foreign Correspondents' Association is very alarmed at recent moves
to curtail press freedom in South Africa and the arrest this week of an
investigative journalist.

In our view, there appears to be a deliberate attempt by the governing
party, through proposed legislation, to curb our profession's ability to
hold the government to task.

A free and open press is one of the pillars of democracy and
unfortunately there is little evidence of this on the African continent,
other than in South Africa.

Any attempt by government to control, monitor or limit the ability of journalists to do their job threatens democracy.

The arrest this week of a journalist from the Sunday Times and the manner in which it was conducted is deeply worrying.

That a media house is forced to go to court to release a journalist
being held without charges and no apparent case, is eerily reminiscent
of what we have seen in Zimbabwe and other countries with a tradition of
intimidating journalists.

The Foreign Correspondents'
Association wishes to express its outrage at the treatment of members of
the foreign media during Thursday's ANCYL press conference at Luthuli
House.

Mr Malema's personal attack on a BBC correspondent Jonah
Fisher for asking tough questions was both abusive and unbecoming of a
politician in any democratic society.

The foreign media, including the BBC, played a major role in exposing the atrocities and inequalities of Apartheid.

We pride ourselves in exposing hypocrisy, corruption and the abuse of power, no matter who governs.

That
the media, including foreign broadcasters, were invited to this press
conference at the headquarters of the ruling party and then subjected to
an attack is a worrying sign for democracy and the role of the free
press in this country.

The
Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Southern Africa welcomes the
release of Thomas Scheen, correspondent for the German daily
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) today, who was kidnapped by
Mai-Mai fighters in Eastern Congo.

Mr
Scheen, a member of the FCA of Southern Africa, had been taken
captive by armed Mai-Mai militias in the conflict region of the
eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday. He was
working on a story for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung near the
village of Kiwanja, an area where there has been heavy fighting
between the Mai-Mai-militias and rebel general Laurent Nkunda`s
forces.

Mr.
Scheen and his three congolese colleagues have been taken care of by
the authorities of the UN peacekeeping mission MONUC since Friday.

The
FCA strongly condemns the kidnapping of Mr. Scheen and urges
journalists to take precaution while travelling and working in the
conflict area in East Congo.

*
The Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Southern Africa is a
nonprofit organization representing the interests of some 200
international journalists based in southern Africa. In addition to
holding regular events with newsmakers, the association acts as a
watchdog for press freedom and strives to ensure that its members are
able to work throughout the region without being intimidated or
harassed.

The Foreign Correspondents’
Associations of Southern Africa and the Foreign Correspondents

Association of East Africa are deeply
concerned about the murders, harassment and jailing of journalists
across Africa recently. We believe that functioning democracies need
an independent and unfettered press. Freedom of the press and respect
for journalists play a crucial role in building good governance.

Attacks on journalists damage societies
and run counter to the expressed aims of the African Union, the

New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD) and the Commission for Africa.

In the past few months journalists
working in Africa have been charged with espionage, murdered,

harassed by government officials, and
jailed for defamation and for publishing “false news.”

In Sudan, respected Sudanese editor
Mohammed Taha, was kidnapped and murdered by unknown

parties.

The Sudanese government charged
American journalist Paul Salopek with espionage and spreading false
news. Mr Salopek, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, was released on
"humanitarian grounds" before his trial began.

In Khartoum, a crew from Canadian TV
CBC that had the necessary permit to film was detained and

assaulted in front of their hotel.
Cameraman Simon Munene was punched in the head, which left him

bleeding from his eye.

In Ethiopia, at least 20 journalists
were jailed, according to statistics by the International Federation
of

Journalists from August. A female
journalist, Serkalem Fasi, gave birth to her son in a police prison.

In Somalia in June, freelance Swedish
cameraman Martin Adler was shot dead at a large rally in the

capital, Mogadishu.

In Democratic Republic of Congo in
July, reporters were harrassed and beaten by supporters of Joseph

Kabila.

In Niger, a court last week handed down
18-month prison sentences and heavy fines against the

director and editor of the Niger
private weekly Le Républicain. The pair were charged with defaming

the government in connection with a
July opinion piece that suggested that Niger’s foreign policy was

“deserting the West for Iran.”

In Senegal, a court last week gave
Alioune Ndiaye and Saliou Sambe, director and reporter with the

private daily L’Observateur,
six-month suspended prison sentences over a story about alleged
corruption.

Journalists complain on a regular basis
on non-transparent visa procedures, "lost visa files", very
long

delyas and lots of red tape that makes
it very difficult to travel to countries like Sudan and Nigeria.

The Foreign Correspondents’
Associations note that the attacks have been on foreign and local
journalists

alike. The Associations condemn the
attacks and call for the immediate release of jailed journalists.

For more information, please contact:

John Chiahemen, Chairman, the FCA of
Southern Africa: fca@onwe.co.za

Dr. Ulrike Koltermann, Chairwoman, the
FCA of East Africa, board@fcaea.org